The Eye in Inquisition (by Varric Tethras)
by foxfire79
Summary: 'The Tale of The Champion' was released a while ago, and Varric needs a new story to occupy his minimal free time. Who better to write about than Lilah Trevelyan, the Herald of Andraste and newly minted Inquisitor? And all of her friends and Advisors, of course. Who else could be trusted to put these tales to paper (and gain a reasonable profit?) None other than Varric Tethras!
1. The Beginning of the Whole Mess Part 01

The Eye in Inquisition by Varric Tethras (Varric's narrative of what's going on in the Inquisition, featuring all characters and lots of ridiculous superlatives)

I still don't work for Bioware. I still wish I did. I own nothing (except for Lilah, or 'Wynter' in this case!) Everything else belongs to them, dagnabbit. *sighs* On with it then!

Starting... Now!

Lilah sighed, glancing back at the conspicuous dwarven shadow which had been following her since their arrival at Skyhold. Varric had looked like he wanted to talk to her all day, ever since she'd spoken with Hawke, but every time she turned to confront him, he seemed to disappear around very strategically placed corners. It probably helped that he was short as well. Anyone could hide behind one of the large piles of rubble which seemed to make up this tumbledown castle. She ran her finger over the heavy iron brazier to her left and sighed again, looking at the thick layer of dust which came away on her fingertip. This place was a complete mess. Yet more work for the Inquisition to get on with. Her thoughts were interrupted by someone softly clearing their throat behind her.

"Huh? Oh! Commander, you startled me. I was just..."

She trailed off, rubbing the dust from her fingers onto the fabric of her pants. Commander Cullen smiled at her softly, ducking his head in greeting.

"Lamenting the state of our new palatial home? You wouldn't be the only one, I saw Josephine taking copious notes on which walls were crumbling slightly more than others and how many families of rats needed to be exterminated."

Lilah could feel her cheeks turning red, and Cullen chuckled softly as he noticed her reaction. He'd practically read her mind.

"It's not as bad as all that. Anything beats sleeping in tents, I was getting tired of being nomadic. Oh, and thank you very much, by the way!"

Cullen's eyebrow twitched up at her sarcastic tone. He crossed his arms, frowning slightly.

"Regarding?"

Lilah puffed out a breath, placing one hand on her hip while pointing an accusatory finger in his direction.

"You knew! You bloody knew they were going to name me Inquisitor today! Why didn't you give me a clue? I didn't know what was going on, I thought Cassandra and Leliana were going to give me a proper dressing down in front of everyone for dragging us all through the mountains for weeks. Instead, boom! Inquisitor! And I'd been talking to you only a few minutes beforehand."

Cullen's frown faltered, and he took a step closer to her.

"How exactly could I have warned you? 'Brilliant castle you've stumbled upon for us, oh, and by the way, us advisors have decided to elevate your rank to Inquisitor. No reason really, someone had to do it and you got the short straw, sorry.' Somehow I don't think you would have believed me."

Lilah snorted out a short laugh, looking up at him.

"Funny."

Cullen bobbed a slight bow, a smile playing across his face.

"I try. Forgive your military advisor for not warning you of this sneak attack from Cassandra and Leliana? They made me promise, and those two are absolutely ruthless."

Lilah sighed and smiled, then noticed Varric's shadow still stretching out around the corner.

"You're forgiven. Oh, and watch out for Varric. He's been sneakily following me about all day."

Cullen's smile immediately dropped and his eyes narrowed.

"Thanks for the warning. He must be planning something, saying he suddenly has a 'friend' available who knows all about this Corypheus, and then Hawke just shows up. And errr, thank you. For forgiving me."

A ghost of his previous smile returned, and Lilah might have only imagined it, a light blush appeared across his face. The handsome Commander backed away, still smiling slightly, then finally turned away as he turned the corner. Lilah heard him gruffly greet Varric, then his receding footsteps echoing down the corridor. She kept her eyes on Varric's shadow, then eventually sighed again and coughed before addressing him.

"Varric. I know you're there."

She heard a soft chuckle, then the dwarven rogue finally stepped around the corner to face her.

"Caught by the Inquisitor herself, I should probably be flattered. Not that I'm not always slightly awestruck by the antics you get up to, of course."

She could never stay angry at the dwarf. He was just too entertaining. Lilah crossed her arms and looked at him, warily.

"What are you up to? Why have you been following me around all day? I don't think I could deal with any more surprises today, I've already been turned into an almighty figurehead."

Varric raised his hands in a warding off gesture, shaking his head.

"Whoa there, Lize, nothing I can offer you could beat that! However, I do have something to tell you. Something I think you'll rather enjoy."

He'd definitely hooked her in.

"What is it?"

Varric threw his arms open wide, while grinning at her.

"You, Lilah Trevelyan, are going to be the star of my latest novel series! Isn't that exciting?"

Lilah couldn't stop herself from grinning.

"That actually is really exciting! Is it going to be like the 'Hard in Hightown' series?"

Varric returned her grin, now rubbing his hands together.

"Somewhat. I'll change your name and look, of course, but there's only so much I can do to disguise you. I mean, you're the Herald of Andraste, the Inquisitor. There's really no mistaking you for anyone else. And I'll change the names of everyone else, including myself, as well. Just for fun really."

Lilah paused for a moment, thinking.

"Will I get to read the chapters before you publish them? I don't want anyone being put out."

Varric looked at her, eyes narrowing.

"Don't you trust me, Lize? We've been together since the beginning, I thought we were building a friendship here..."

Lilah stepped forward, eyes growing wide with concern.

"No, no no, you're absolutely right! I'm sorry, you've been writing for years, you know what you're doing. I trust your judgement completely. Besides, I am a rather large fan of your work. 'Hard in Hightown' was brilliant."

Varric bowed, grinning up at her.

"Well, it's always great to meet a fan. So now I just had a few questions for you, if you don't mind. This won't take long."

Lilah smiled back, relaxing once more.

"Alright. Shoot."

Varric pulled a worn, leather-bound notebook from his back pocket and readied a charcoal pencil in his right hand. He leaned against the wall beside Lilah and glanced across at her.

"Ok then, Lize. Here we go. Now, what do you remember from before we met up...?"

~The Eye in Inquisition Chapter One - The Beginning of The Whole Mess (A new serialised novel by Varric Tethras)~

Wynter Frost stifled a yawn as yet another mage stepped forward to voice yet another opinion about something she had absolutely no interest in. She was only present at this so called 'Conclave' because her father had willed it so. 'A united front' he'd said, sending her and her slightly older brother Jason to meet up with their two much older brothers David and Merrick, who were both templars. Having all the Frost heirs in one place may not have been the smartest move, but what harm could come from a peaceful meeting of the minds? So far it had been two days of boring waffling, followed by boring rhetoric and hemmed in by more boring banter. Jason had disappeared midway through the first day, most likely following his roguish instincts to the local tavern to find some willing wench to pass the time with. With his disappearance, David and Merrick had kept an almost prison-guard like eye on her, making sure she didn't follow suit. Right now, she was planted firmly between the two of them, with the possibility of escape at zero percent. She needed something to do. She surreptitiously undid her hair tie and began running her fingers through her snow white locks, detangling them while still trying to look mildly interested in what was being said. She felt a sudden jab in her left side as David's elbow made contact with her ribs. Her hand moved to her side to rub the now aching bones.

"What in the Fade are you doing, Wynter?"

His deep blue eyes burned their displeasure down at her, while her icy blue eyes glared back at him defiantly.

"Father only said I had to come. He didn't say I had to be interested."

Merrick elbowed her from the other side. Well, at least she'd have matching bruises now.

"What are you two mumbling about? People are going to take notice."

Wynter elbowed him back and he grimaced, his own hand going to his side.

"Good. I hope they do. What good is all this talk going to get us anyway? This conclave is going to go on forever."

Merrick looked down at her, grinning.

"Isn't that a good thing for you though?"

Wynter looked up into his friendlier face, still scowling herself.

"How so?"

Merrick tried to keep his mirth in check, but ended up snorting out a chuckle, his green eyes dancing.

"Well, the longer you're here, the longer you don't have to deal with mother sending you out for marriage meetings."

Wynter's eyes widened and she giggled, hurriedly coughing to cover her untimely humour explosion. A couple of the young mages standing behind them giggled as well. Merrick calmed himself, eyes once again facing forward and a cool look of faked interest falling across his features. David looked like he was about ready to punch both of them.

"If you're not going to pay attention, little sister, I suggest you move out of the front row. Now go and calm yourself!"

He practically growled the last part of the sentence, and Wynter could feel his patience growing thin. One of the young mage girls behind her stepped forward.

"Beggin' your pardon, Ser David, but I'll take your sister out to the kitchen to get a drink, if you like. Something to help with that, errr, cough of hers."

David glanced at the young elven girl and smiled. He was so very handsome when he smiled. Wynter sighed and looked away as the young mage blushed and stared down at the ground. She wished he'd reign it in a little with the young ones. They all ended up with crushes on him.

"Yes, that would be lovely Tabitha, thank you."

The young mage girl grabbed at Wynter's hand, pulling her out through the milling throng behind them. The back of the room was relatively empty, and had several tables with large kegs of wine and mead available for everyone's convenience. Tabitha dropped her hand as soon as they reached the tables and started giggling.

"Oh my stars, I've never seen Ser David look so cranky before. And you're not even a mage, milady!"

Wynter smiled at the young woman, and grabbed a tankard to fill with ale.

"I'm worse in his eyes. His useless sister who refuses to join the Chantry or the templars. If I was a mage at least I'd be a member of a circle, which is better than what I do now."

Wynter passed the tankard to Tabitha and grabbed another for herself. The young woman looked at the tankard curiously, then looked back up at her.

"Mage's aren't allowed, milady."

Wynter grinned, and clinked her tankard lightly against the mage's.

"I won't tell if you won't."

Tabitha grinned, and took a small sip.

"So what is it you do, milady? I don't mean to pry, of course."

Wynter squinted out the window at the now dying light of day. The stained glass windows lent the light a green tinge, which made it slightly surreal.

"I stay at home mostly, with my other brother Jason. He's... a mercenary for hire. Occasionally I help him. I also help my parents run the property. And I try to get out of as many marriage meetings as I possibly can."

Tabitha giggled, swallowing another sip of ale.

"That's one thing I'm thankful I'll never have to go through. Meeting people with a mind to marry them. I'd rather go on adventures, or help people."

Wynter took another deep sip of her ale, looking up at the young mage.

"Or save the world, if needs be?"

Tabitha reached forward with her tankard, clinking it against Wynter's again.

"Aye, saving the world, that's always on the cards. Just like those two mages who helped the Hero of Ferelden. I could totally do that."

Wynter glanced at the girl over her tankard. She was young, and idealistic. Just the person who should actually be talking at this conclave instead of the ridiculously stuffy old Chantry sisters, head templars and high mages. They'd never take her seriously though. She sighed, and blew a few strands of her now loose white hair out of her eyes. Tabitha put her now empty tankard down and ushered the taller girl onto a chair.

"Please let me fix your hair, milady, it'll get wicked tangled if you leave it out like this."

Wynter's eyes drifted closed as the young elf deftly re-braided her hair. Then she heard the girl yelp faintly as a heavy hand fell upon her shoulder. Her eyes sprang open and she found herself eye to eye with a worried looking David. Merrick was standing just behind him, hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"What is it?"

She looked to the window and the light pouring in seemed even greener than before.

"There's..."

David looked lost for words for the first time in his life. Tabitha ran to the window where the other younger mages were now congregating, and gasped.

"Oh my stars..."

Merrick grabbed her arm, pulling her up off the stool and pointed her towards the door.

"It'll be easier to show her."

Wynter could feel the larger man's hand trembling as it rested on her arm. For both of her templar brothers to be this freaked out, it must be something... large. She stepped toward the door, noticing that even away from the stained glass windows the light was still green tinged. Her footsteps sped up and she ran out of the Temple, dreading what she might see but knowing that dragging it out would make it even worse. Once she stepped outside... Her legs gave out as she gazed up at the heavens...

"What in Andraste's name...?"

Merrick dropped to his knees beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders for support.

"We don't know. Nobody knows."

Wynter stared up, uncomprehendingly, at what used to be the sky.

"What...?"

She felt strong arms pulling her from behind, and realised that David had come out to drag them both back inside. She struggled, trying to find her feet, and eventually scrambled back inside with both of her brothers. The sky had grown darker, and an ominous rumbling had begun to shake the ground beneath their feet. Tabitha ran back to meet them as they entered the door, her hand finding Wynter's. The poor girl was shaking like a leaf, and her eyes were filled with terrified tears, but Wynter wasn't faring much better.

"What happened to the sky?"

David and Merrick both just gazed down at her, looking as confused and scared as she felt. She felt slightly safer in their arms, but... The rumbling deepened, and there was a loud crack as the first lava ball burst through the roof of the Temple, landing in the centre where most of the representatives had been gathered. They didn't even have time to scream. They had been there, and now they just... weren't. Tabitha gasped, tightening her grip on Wynter's hand, and David and Merrick's arms tightened around her. The air was starting to turn black with ash as the building was bombarded with more lava. Large shards of red glowing stone seemed to spring up wherever the balls of molten rock landed. David suddenly stood up, looking around wildly.

"The Divine! Where's the Divine?"

He looked like he was about to tear off looking for her, but Wynter reached a hand up to grab his arm.

"I'll go."

He looked down at her, eyes narrowing.

"You will not. You'll stay here where it's safe."

Wynter looked around them and cocked an eyebrow.

"In what way is this safer? Besides, I'm faster than you, lighter than you, and I'll seem less terrifying to anyone that needs rescuing, you big bloody templar!"

David looked torn, but Merrick placed a hand on his shoulder.

"She's right you know. You're not really a people person. Just go, fair maiden. Go and save the world. And be back in time for tea!"

Wynter saluted her brothers, and looked down at Tabitha who was now cowering on the floor.

"David. Look after your young charge, will you? She's bloody terrified."

She grabbed Tabitha's hand, placed it in her brother's and cast the now blushing mage a cheeky wink. She leaned forward to whisper in the young girls ear.

"Don't waste this opportunity. He's always had a thing for elves."

David looked down dumbfounded at the young woman's hand in his, and then watched as his youngest sibling ran off towards the rear of the temple.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Wynter dodged more of the flaming lava balls as they came blasting through the roof and walls. The smell of the burning bodies was almost overpowering as she dodged around the red crystals springing up through the stone floor. The door leading to the rear antechamber was clear of debris and she leaped over a newly fallen burning beam to reach it. She shouldered the door open, and stumbled into the strangest predicament she'd ever been in.

"What's going on here?!"

Then there was darkness. Something must have happened between opening the door, and waking up on this stone scattered ground, but for the life of her she couldn't remember a thing. She was in a rather terrible amount of pain though, and her head... Ooh, she'd rather not think about it. She stood slowly, perusing her surroundings. Well, there was certainly lots of rock. And stone. And pebbles. She heard a skittering sound off to her right, and she turned sharply, her white braid whipping around her shoulder. Skittering was never good. She started walking toward the large stone stairway which she assumed would lead her out of... wherever she was, and heard the skittering again. Wynter looked behind her again, and swore when she realised what had been making the noise.

"Shit! Spiders! Why did it have to be spiders?!"

She started sprinting up the stairs, then realised they weren't actually stairs, just a rather rough and extremely steep natural path. The light at the top, though, that seemed like the right place to be heading. The first of the spiders made it's way around the corner and started up the incline behind her, shrieking as it followed her scent. Wynter began to clamber even faster, throwing pieces of loose rock behind her at the giant spiders. She swore she could see a woman's figure at the top of the cairn reaching out to her, as if to speed her along. The light was so inviting... Maybe this was the afterlife? Maybe this was a trial you had to face before making it safely to the Maker's side? But why did it have to be giant spiders? Wynter's progress had slowed to a crawl as she reached the top of the stone encrusted hill, the loose rocks making each step treacherous. She reached out to the outline of the woman standing in front of the bright, welcoming light and fell forward, leaving the giant spiders behind for good...

And woke up in darkness again. This time in chains.

"Well. At least I'm alive."

~And back to Varric and Lilah~

Varric leaned forward in anticipation as Lilah read through the last page, and nodded.

"It's good. I like it. But why am I silver haired and blue eyed? And Wynter Frost? Really?"

Varric rolled his eyes.

"Everyone's a critic. It'll grow on you Lize, trust me. Thanks for filling in the blanks as well as you could too, that was a big help."

Lilah smiled, placing a hand on the dwarf's arm.

"I did my best. A lot of that is still very fuzzy in my memory, and I really don't remember what happened between opening the door and waking up in the fade. That one flash of memory when we sealed the breach is all I have."

Varric smiled back, encouragingly.

"Well, it was better than anything I would have made up to fill in the gaps anyway. Can I ask you more questions later, if I need to?"

Lilah stretched, pushing up from the newly dusted bench she'd been sitting on to read the first chapter of Varric's new work. The people had really come together over the past two weeks, and the castle was looking a lot cleaner. She was feeling a lot more positive about Skyhold with every passing day.

"Of course. I mean, when we're not out there saving the day."

Varric nodded sagely.

"Oh yeah, saving the world. That does come first. But right now I have to go do some editing, then send this to my publisher. And you, of course, will get a signed copy."

Lilah smiled, and moved off down the corridor back towards Josephine's office.

"I can't wait. This is going to be great, Varric. Another great series!"

Varric grinned to himself, gathering his papers into order.

"Of course it'll be great. I wrote the damn thing."

END OF PART 01

So, this is something else I've been working on. Seeing as I had mentioned 'The Eye in Inquisition' in my previous story 'I Dreamed a Dream (of banana pancakes)' I've decided to have a go at writing it. I love Varric's books, they're so trashy but just brilliant. There's going to be a chapter for each Advisor and each Inner Circle member, and a two part first chapter for the Inquisitor's origin story. I hope you guys like it, I'm on holidays for the next week so I should be able to get some good writing done on all of the things I'm working on (I know it's been a very long hiatus and I'm sorry!) As always read, review and enjoy! Part 2 will be coming soon!

Foxfire out!


	2. The Beginning of the Whole Mess Part 02

The Eye in Inquisition by Varric Tethras (Varric's narrative of what's going on in the Inquisition, featuring all characters and lots of ridiculous superlatives)

I still don't work for Bioware. I still wish I did. I own nothing (except for Lilah, or 'Wynter' in this case!) Everything else belongs to them, dagnabbit. *sighs* On with it then!

Starting... Here!

Varric put down the letter he'd just received from his publisher and grinned. They'd loved the chapter extract he'd sent them and had ordered two hundred copies to be printed immediately. TWO HUNDRED! That was double what their first order for 'The Tale of The Champion' had been. Clearly they could recognise a good thing when they saw it. They'd also paid him an advance on the first three chapters, so he had to get cracking. He'd only finished half of the first chapter, and Lilah did so enjoy taking him out on their little excursions. He'd have to request a small leave of absence to fulfill his chapter quota. He tucked the letter into his pocket and made his way toward where he assumed Lilah would be.

And funnily enough, there she was, watching the new recruits training with Commander Curly out in the yard. They were both standing with their arms folded, surveying the recruits running drills and practicing with dummies, when Cullen leaned over and mumbled something to her, making her nod in reply. She climbed over the waist high barrier and faced them all, arms folded across her short sleeved cotton blouse.

"Right, you lot. You're coming along nicely, but the Commander wants to give you a challenge. Sooo... You'll be fighting me."

One of the burlier men in the front of the crowd sneered at this, spitting on the ground.

"You don't look so tough, sweetheart. Where's the challenge?"

Lilah raised an eyebrow, and slowly started removing her gloves, a smile quirking up the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, didn't the Commander tell you?"

The group paled as her glowing hand was revealed, and the burly loudmouth stepped back, subdued.

"I thought the element of surprise might help."

Cullen's arms remained folded, but his own half smile echoed hers.

"Alright then, let me introduce myself. I'm only the bloody Inquisitor."

The now quiet recruits all dropped to their knees, bowing their heads before her. Lilah huffed out an annoyed breath, throwing a look at the Commander which clearly read 'Help Me.' His smile grew even wider and he gestured toward the almost prostrate troops before her.

"Well, it looks like the element of surprise didn't help as much as you'd hoped, Inquisitor."

Lilah looked up to the heavens, and sighed.

"Is this going to happen every time? Void take me, I'm not that terrifying, get up! On your feet!"

The recruits stood up, but still wouldn't make eye contact with her. She decided to use the direct approach.

"Right, you. The one who called me 'sweetheart'. What's your name, soldier?"

Burly Loudmouth had turned rather pale by this point, and was practically shaking in his boots.

"Fisher. Julius Fisher, Ma'am. Milady. Your Inquisitorialness?"

Lilah stepped forward, arching her neck back so she could look him in the eye. He almost winced.

"Calm down, Fisher. I'm not going to hurt you... much. Now take up your weapon, and come at me. Let me show you how a real rogue attacks..."

Varric swore he only looked away for a second but when he turned his attention back to the ring, Burly Loudmouth was lying flat on his back with Lilah kneeling on his chest, one blade aimed at his throat and the other at his groin. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water, and his face was growing paler by the second. Lilah looked down at him with a slightly concerned look, then glanced over at Cullen.

"Commander, I think you may need to fetch a medic, this man appears to be about to faint."

Cullen snickered behind his closed fist for a second before ordering one of the other recruits to fetch the medic. He then reached one hand toward Lilah to help her exit the ring. Her legs tangled while she was climbing over the fence and she somehow ended up cradled in Cullen's arms, their foreheads almost touching. They both looked away quickly, blushing.

"Oh, err, sorry. Clumsy me!"

"Not a problem, Inquisitor."

He set her back on her feet and quickly turned away to face the recruits, who luckily hadn't seemed to notice her slightly less than heroic exit from the ring.

"Let this be a lesson to you, soldiers. Never underestimate the unknown."

Lilah sighed once more, and noticed Varric standing off to the side watching.

"Oh great, yet another nickname for me; Lilah Trevelyan: Herald, Inquisitor, and The Great Unknown!"

Varric chuckled, pushing the letter more deeply into his pocket. He couldn't leave Lilah's group to finish writing his chapters, especially if the new crop of recruits were all as green as Burly Loudmouth and friends. She didn't need to add that to an ever increasing list of worries. He'd work around it, write at night while everyone else was sleeping if he had to. Saving the world was slightly more important than making money, after all. Only slightly though.

"Good news, Lize. My publisher wants to pick up 'The Eye in Inquisition'. They're gonna print two hundred copies to start, chapter by chapter, then a collected volume at the end. You're going to be famous!"

Lilah threw a pained look at him, and gestured back towards the starstruck recruits standing behind them.

"Well... Slightly more famous than you already are."

Lilah huffed out another breath and pulled her black gloves back on, heading back towards the main hall.

"More famous? Fantastic. Just fantastic."

~The Eye in Inquisition Chapter One - The Beginning of The Whole Mess (A new serialised novel by Varric Tethras)~

Previously...

Wynter's progress had slowed to a crawl as she reached the top of the stone encrusted hill, the loose rocks making each step treacherous. She reached out to the outline of the woman standing in front of the bright, welcoming light and fell forward, leaving the giant spiders behind for good...

And woke up in darkness again. This time in chains.

"Well. At least I'm alive."

Now...

Wynter looked down at the handcuffs encasing her wrists. They certainly looked sturdy. She gave them a rather fruitless shake and then settled her hands into her lap. Though her left hand felt rather curious... It was tingling, like she'd fallen asleep on it. The chains weren't too tight... Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the most intense pain she'd ever experienced as she grasped her now glowing left hand. Maker's Balls, what was happening? The green light crackled over the surface of her skin like lightning, seeming to settle into the large jagged fissure which covered most of the surface of her left hand. That green looked very familiar... She couldn't quite remember where she'd seen it, but she was filled with a terrible sense of foreboding. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the light (and thankfully the pain) disappeared, leaving both of her hands looking almost normal. Almost normal because she could still see the large translucent scar across her left hand, even though it wasn't alive with electricity.

At that moment, the door to her cell opened, letting in the firelight from the corridor beyond. She looked up quickly as she noticed two unfamiliar figures walking towards her. The taller of the two jerked her to her feet, grabbing the chain attached to her handcuffs. Wynter stumbled to her feet, squinting at the two figures silhouetted in the brighter light from the door, and realised that they were both women. The taller, and more severe of the two, had been the one to jerk her to her feet. The shorter one was hanging back, nearer the door, possibly waiting to gauge her reaction. Wynter stood still, her eyes still adjusting to the change in light, waiting for one or both of them to speak. The taller one spoke first.

"How did you do it?"

Wynter blinked, confused. That was quite an obtuse question to start with. How did she do what, exactly? Breathe? Walk? End up in the cell?

"I'm sorry, what?"

The tall one grabbed the chain and pulled her closer. Wynter could now see the sharp cheekbones and angrily narrowed eyes of the woman glowering down at her. She could also see the nasty looking scar which ran from the woman's eyebrow down to her chin on the left side of her face, marring what would have been a quite startlingly beautiful face.

"Don't play games with me! The Temple of Sacred Ashes lies in ruins! The Conclave has been destroyed, and the Divine lies dead! You alone survived the events, so you are our only suspect! Now tell me, how did you do it?"

She shook the chain again, and Wynter's teeth rattled with the intensity of the woman's rage. The words she'd said had sounded familiar, the Temple, the Conclave, the Divine... She'd been at a temple with her brothers, surrounded by mages, templars and Chantry sisters. Then something had happened, something had happened to the sky, and there had been burning, heat, and red, so many red things... Wynter gasped as the memory flooded through her, and her eyes prickled with tears. Her brothers, Tabitha, the Divine...

"Oh no... All those people..."

The tall woman scoffed, yanking at her chain once more.

"A very convincing act. But why aren't you one of 'those people', huh? How did you survive what killed everyone else?"

Wynter felt numb. Her brothers were all dead. The Chantry sisters and clerics, the mages, the templars... How on earth had she survived? She remembered jumping through a door, then running through that strange darkness away from the spiders, but that didn't explain anything. How had she survived? She didn't have a clue.

"I don't know..."

Her own voice sounded hollow in her ears, and her hand had started tingling again. The pain exploded through her hand again, and she half collapsed with a gasp. The only thing holding her up was the vice-like grip the tall woman had on her chained hands. She lifted the chain higher, dragging Wynter back to her feet, gasping.

"Explain this!"

The woman shook her own glowing green hand in her face, and she turned away from it. Looking at the mark made her feel physically ill.

"I can't explain it, I don't know what that is!"

The shorter, hooded woman finally stepped forward, grasping the taller woman's arm.

"That's enough, Nerida! We don't know for certain that she caused any of this, we only know that she was there."

The tall woman, Nerida, shook the shorter woman's hand off and snorted disdainfully.

"Louisa, do you honestly think that the only survivor of this tragedy, bearing this mark on her hand, had nothing to do with it? I can only hope that you're kidding!"

Louisa stubbornly grabbed Nerida's arm again, forcing her to look her in the eye.

"We have no proof that she did anything. We don't even know who she is."

Nerida dropped the chain, and the immediate release of the chain's tension made Wynter drop to the floor. She sat there, nursing her left hand, staring up at these two odd women. Were they going to kill her? Had she survived only to be executed for being the apparent perpetrator of this senseless tragedy? The shorter woman wearing the hood, Louisa, approached her once again, kneeling so she was closer to her face.

"Who are you? Why were you at the Conclave?"

Wynter licked her lips, and looked up at Louisa's face. Though she seemed the friendlier of the two, Wynter could see the calculating shrewdness in her eyes. Where it seemed like Nerida was the brawn, Louisa was definitely the brains. She decided to answer truthfully and hopefully earn her way out of the cell.

"My name is Wynter Frost, of the Frost Family out of Ostwick. Our family has many Chantry ties, and two of my elder brothers are... sorry, were templars. My father decided that it was in our family's best interests if we came to the Conclave to show our support for the peace talks and encourage other families in the Free Marches to do the same."

Louisa nodded, absorbing the information.

"I've heard of your family. This seems to be a truthful answer, or at least you think you're telling the truth anyway. Unless you're very good at lying. Like me."

Louisa smiled brightly when she said this, but the smile never made it to her eyes. She was definitely the scarier of the pair. She touched Nerida lightly on the arm.

"Remove her chains, and meet me at the forward camp. Hyde will likely want to know that his patient is awake."

Nerida's mouth dropped open for a second, then closed into a tight line.

"Fine. Do what you like. But I'm not going to sugar coat any of this. Until we have further proof... She is still our only suspect."

Louisa sighed.

"Or she could be a perfectly innocent bystander who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Happy now?"

Louisa crossed her arms.

"It's impossible for me to be happy right now. But I am slightly more appeased. Now release her bonds. Gently, if you please."

Nerida puffed out an annoyed breath and unlocked the cuffs around Wynter's wrists, letting them fall to the floor. She stood unsteadily, weaving a little on her feet. Nerida approached her with a leather tie and pulled her hands behind her back, securing them again, though not as tightly.

"This is just for show, Lady Frost. The people of Haven... They have already judged you."

Nerida pushed her lightly through the door of the cell and they set off through the town, followed by dark stares and jeers. Wynter was just thankful that they weren't throwing anything or spitting on her. She was actually kind of thankful that Nerida was walking behind her. Then, as if by magic, Nerida actually started to offer up information from the past few days.

"Three days ago... That was when the sky turned green, and the Temple exploded. When that great rift appeared in the sky. As far as the townsfolk are concerned, three days ago the world started to end. And three days ago, we stumbled upon you, still breathing, lying on a pile of rubble in the broken remains of that Temple. We had one of our mages stay with you for the past two days, then he was called away to help deal with another rift which had opened close by. His name is Hyde. He would have been classified an apostate, but technically all mages are apostates now. After the conclave... the Circles have mostly disbanded, thanks to what happened in Kirkwall. It's all just... such a mess."

Nerida sounded tired, more than anything.

"It must be hard on you remaining templars, keeping everything in order."

Wynter heard Nerida snort again, and wondered what she's said wrong this time.

"You think I'm a templar? Perish the thought. I'm a Seeker of Truth. Or I was..."

Wynter sighed, and went to scratch her head, then realised her hands were still tied. Her itch would have to wait.

"Well, what are you now, then?"

Nerida paused, as if looking for the correct response.

"I am... part of something bigger. We'll explain it to you later, if it comes to that. Open the gates!"

Two surly looking guardsmen opened the heavy gates leading out into the wilderness. Once they were through, Nerida cut the tie from her hands, and Wynter finally got to scratch her head. The giant green vortex in the sky looked larger than she vaguely remembered, and her hand sparked as she looked up at it, causing her to gasp involuntarily. Nerida threw her a concerned look.

"The mark is slowly killing you. As the Breach grows, it also grows, and it will eventually consume you, unless we find some way to seal it. Both the breach and your hand."

Wynter closed her fingers into a shaky fist and re-opened them, the green lightning slowly fading on her hand.

"Do you think this apostate, this Hyde... He can help me?"

Nerida chuckled, running a hand over her short, black hair.

"He's the closest thing that we have to an expert at this point. He's pretty much your only chance."

They started walking across the bridge that led to the other side of the ravine, when they heard a loud whistling sound from above, and saw a lava ball flying towards them, tumbling down from the Breach above.

"Down!"

Nerida yelled the word, then grabbed Wynter as the bridge began to collapse beneath them, and they both tumbled to the ice below...

~Back to Varric and Lilah~

"So this is the second chapter then?"

Varric sighed and shook his head.

"No, it's part two of the first chapter. Turns out it's going to take me a lot longer to finish this than I thought it would. You just keep taking me out on grand adventures, how can I say no to that? More stories for the book."

Lilah thought for a moment and smiled.

"You know, I could take Sera instead of you, if you wanted some down-time. And we could just fill you in on what happened afterwards."

Varric smiled and stretched, re-packing the pages into his backpack as Lilah worked on pulling down the tents.

"What? And leave me all by myself at Skyhold, with all the booze and people wanting to hear about Hawke? What a nightmare!"

He recounted the pages, and frowned.

"Hold up, Lize. I'm missing two pages..."

He was interrupted by Cassandra marching up and shaking the two loose pages at him.

"Varric! What is the meaning of this! 'Where it seemed like Nerida was the brawn, Louisa was definitely the brains'! And why in all of the Void did you name my character Nerida? I refuse to be a part of this, this... travesty!"

Varric threw an exasperated look at Lilah, who shrugged apologetically and mouthed a silent 'sorry' in his direction. Ah. This was her payback for the extra fame. Now he had to placate the Seeker as well. He certainly had his work cut out for him.

END OF PART 02

See, I told you part 2 would be coming soon! Writing this is fun, but then again, writing any Dragon Age fan fiction is fun. Did I mention it was almost 4am? No? Well it is, and as you can see I have fallen back into old habits! As always read, review and enjoy! Part 3 coming soon (but not as soon as part 2!)

Foxfire out!


End file.
